Fast forward to today and we are in the main house, and I was able to take a HELOC out and buy an investment property, and with my tenants in place we are paying below $2K/month to live in a 3 bed house with a nice backyard.Your team (Realtor and Lender) should be able to walk you through the process.

Look at buying a 2-4 unit, live in one unit, rent the rest.You'll get an unbelievable education!

I lived 2 blocks away from one, once.

As for internet marketing on Zillow - when your listing goes live and if your listing broker ...and... their MLS has a data sharing agreement ..and.. if the brokerage hasn't opted out then the MLS listing data will overwrite your Zillow listing.

"I want to live off cash flow" isn't a goal, it's a theory or a wish or an idea.

My buyer will live in rehab one unit at a time and there's an unfinished basement that can be turned into another unit.

Are used to live in Cullman back in 2021 and fell in love with the Huntsville area.

Traditional mortgage, HOA does not allow immediate rental (need to live in it for 2 years), and so I did but with the intent of renting it in the future.

Consider a live in flip, we used to use terms like sweat equity to describe this tactic.Couple of lender ideas Get a co-signerTalk to local or regional banks, you will need "portfolio" lender.Get a bridge loan from hard money or private money until you quality for conventional financing.Financing will be tough. 

I live in Montana and geographically, it seems like one of the only options for investing that is within one flight away from Montana.